Orioles bullpen holds on without Félix Bautista, securing 5-4 win over Rockies in front of sellout crowd – The Denver Post

With a one-run lead in the ninth inning, the lights didn’t go down at Camden Yards and Omar’s whistle from “The Wire” didn’t announce that Félix is coming.

Instead, it was Yennier Cano who jogged out of Baltimore’s bullpen for the save opportunity in place of injured teammate and friend Félix Bautista.

It wasn’t the first trip Cano had Saturday that felt off. The Orioles’ setup man usually drives with Bautista to the stadium, and the latter is in charge of the music. But Bautista, who was placed on the 15-day injured list Saturday with an elbow injury he suffered Friday, had tests to undergo and couldn’t ride with Cano, who drove to Oriole Park alone in silence.

The extent to Bautista’s injury is unknown, but Saturday was the first day — for the Orioles and Cano — of life without their All-Star closer. The vibe at the ballpark might have been different in the ninth, but the result was the same. Cano, like Bautista almost definitely would have, retired the side in order to save the Orioles’ 5-4 win over the Colorado Rockies in front of a sellout crowd — the first 15,000 of whom received a Bautista bobblehead.

“I just wanted to do my best impression of him,” Cano said through team interpreter Brandon Quinones. “Go out there and complete the job and do whatever he would do.”

Cano, also an All-Star this season, said before the game that he expected to feel “a little weird” jogging to the mound in the ninth inning rather than watching Bautista do so with his entrance flare. It was even more odd when the umpires made Cano change his glove after he patted it with the rosin bag — something he said he does every game — causing a brief delay and questions of whether he would be allowed to pitch the ninth.

After Cano got Charlie Blackmon to line out to end the game, the right-hander celebrated the win with Bautista, who watched from the dugout.

“It was awesome,” Cano said. “Aside from just being my teammate, he’s one of my best friends here. It’s great being able to give him that handshake, knowing that we got the job done. Just getting that hug from him was great.”

Manager Brandon Hyde said before the game he expects his relievers to step up in Bautista’s absence. The bullpen bent, with Jacob Webb allowing two runs in the eighth, but didn’t break, as DL Hall, the left-handed pitching prospect the Orioles recalled to replace Bautista on the roster, kept the Orioles ahead by pitching a scoreless inning and inducing a critical double play before Cano earned his fifth save.

“He wants the ball,” Hyde said of Cano. “He’s not afraid of the moment. He’s not afraid to face middle-of-the-order bats. I love how aggressive he is. I love how he pitches with no fear.”

“They were excellent,” Cano said of his teammates who pitched behind him. “I think we’ve all been working really hard, and now with Félix out, we’re going to have to do an even better job going forwards.”

Kyle Bradish pitched six innings of two-run ball to remain one of the American League’s best starters. Ramón Urías, Ryan Mountcastle, Austin Hays and Anthony Santander all collected RBIs, with Santander’s RBI double in the seventh providing critical insurance.

The Orioles trailed 2-0 in the third inning, making the comeback victory their 40th of the season, tied for most in the majors, after also winning in come-from-behind fashion Friday thanks to Gunnar Henderson’s two-run homer in the eighth.

“It was a tough day for everybody,” Hyde said. “This was a grind-out game.”

The win is Baltimore’s 81st of the season — guaranteeing at least a .500 season — and fourth in a row. At 81-48, the Orioles are three games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays atop the AL standings. They are 33 games above .500 for the first time since 1997.

The Orioles’ announced attendance of 42,535 is their fifth game of more than 40,000 this season. They had just four such games from 2018 to 2022, including the coronavirus pandemic-impacted seasons. The last season Oriole Park had this many games with 40,000-plus fans was 2017 with seven.

Before the bullpen was needed, Baltimore’s best starter pitched like it. Bradish, who has emerged as one of the AL’s best starters this summer, pitched five stellar innings around one bad one to hand his bullpen a two-run lead. He scattered six hits and one walk while striking out eight.

The only runs he allowed came in the third inning, in which the National League-worst Rockies (48-81) scored two after the first three batters reached base. Leadoff hitter Blackmon hit an RBI single and shortstop Ezequiel Tovar drove in a run on a fielder’s choice groundout.

Bradish’s 3.03 ERA ranks second in the AL among qualified starters, behind only the New York Yankees’ Gerrit Cole at 2.95. In 13 starts since mid-June, Bradish has a 2.23 ERA and 0.942 WHIP with 79 strikeouts in 80 2/3 innings.

After Colorado took a 2-0 lead, the Orioles cut it in half in the fifth when Urías’ ground ball off Rockies starter Chris Flexen scored Hays, who walked to lead off the inning, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by Rockies catcher Elías Díaz. Hays was originally called out, but Hyde won his challenge because Díaz was illegally blocking home plate.

The Orioles then plated three in the sixth to take a 4-2 lead behind Mountcastle’s two-run double and Hays’ RBI groundout. Santander’s double in the seventh, which scored a speedy Jordan Westburg from first, was his 30th of the season.

After Bradish (9-6) allowed a leadoff double in the seventh, left-hander Danny Coulombe and Webb combined to strand that runner. Webb struggled to begin the eighth, allowing an RBI double to Díaz, before Hall replaced him and gave up a run on a double play. That was enough to bridge the game to Cano.

“Love the way he was attacking the zone,” Hyde said of Hall, who was pitching in his second game for the Orioles this season. “He was up to 99 [mph] and throwing a ton of strikes. That’s what we were looking [for] out of DL Hall, just fill up the strike zone.”

Around the horn

• Jack Flaherty is starting Sunday, executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias said before Saturday’s game. Flaherty was scratched Wednesday as he dealt with “general soreness” from his most recent start, manager Brandon Hyde said at the time. Flaherty, a right-hander the Orioles acquired at the trade deadline from the St. Louis Cardinals, said he wasn’t able to “bounce back” the way he normally does after his start in San Diego on Aug. 15. Flaherty has pitched more innings this year than the previous two combined, adding him to the long list of Orioles starters with workload concerns. “That’s a big part of why — we’re doing this six-man rotation to help mitigate the fact that these guys are getting pushed beyond what they’ve done already and he’s part of that,” Elias said.
• When asked if Heston Kjerstad could be promoted to Baltimore when rosters expand to 28 players, Elias said the outfield prospect has “entered that conversation” thanks to his production at Triple-A. Kjerstad, the Orioles’ fifth-best prospect, entered Saturday hitting .306 with a .889 OPS. “Heston is having a wonderful season, especially given the context of everything that’s brought him to this point. He looks great,” Elias said. “He is certainly a candidate for any part of the stretch run here coming up should we decide he’s the guy.”
• High-A Aberdeen catching prospect Samuel Basallo, the club’s fourth-best minor leaguer, is being placed on the injured list with a concussion, the Orioles said. Triple-A backstop Anthony Bemboom is also being placed on the concussion IL. The team also said outfield prospect Enrique Bradfield Jr., the club’s 2023 first-round pick and eighth-best prospect, left Low-A Delmarva’s game Saturday as a precaution after suffering a left calf bruise on a hit by pitch.

Rockies at Orioles

Sunday, 1:35 p.m.

TV: MASN

Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM

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